Card-printing machine.



No. 896,062. v PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908. M. H. MANN. CARD PRINTiNG MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1907.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 1 Fig.1.

Mug HMnn )gwa PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908. M. H. MANNL CARD PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1 907.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

I Inventor: Mile-a H. Mann by Witnesses I alg m auh g. M 6 M No. 896,662. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

- M. H. MANN.

0111111 PRINTING 11110111113,

APPLICATION IILED NOV. 29, 1907.

6 SHEETSPS HEET 3.

nwgezzwg 1 No. 896,062. PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

H. MANN.

CARD PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1907.

6 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

Witnesses inventor? Qg.m @an9% Miles H. Mann M. H. MANN.

PATENTBD AUG. 11, 1908.

CARD PRINTING MACHINE APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1997.

Fig.8. v

6 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

WiEnessas inventor: Miles H; Mann,

Abt'ys.

MANN. CARD PRINTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.29, 19071 PATENTED AUG. 11, 1908.

6 SHEETSSHEET 6.

Wlhnaaaes lnvanhor:

ohm I n l U MILES H. MANN, OF LOUISIANA, MISSOURE.

GARE-PRINTING MACHINE.

no. scenes,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patent-ed Aug. 11, 1908.

Application filed November 29, 1907. Serial No. 404,284.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, lllILES ll. MANN, a citizen of the United States; residing at Louisiana, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Card-Printing Machines, 01" which the following is a full clear, and enact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawngs,

forming part of this spe l-ls a front trusted n1 sece co ice l.

..,ll8 elevation partly in longit or the machine shown in Big. r 1;. 3 is perspective view ot the bed plate Wication, in wh of e mechi l and parts i'uc'unted thereon, the head of the machine being removed Fig. l is a trans verse sectional view ShOWlllg the plunge r whicl'i s the type box; li' 5 i det sectional tekenon tl 5 oi t; Fig. 6 is a perspective top plan view of the typebox; F '7 is aperspective bottom plan view of the t ype box; Fig. 8 is a rear elevation of a portion of the machine showing the chute down which the printed cards slide es they are discharged from the platen; Fig. 9 is a detail longitudinal sectional view of the car riage which carries the feeding 'fu'igers; Fig.

10 is an enlarged view partly in section of the presser or clamp that bears upon the pile card blanks Fig. 11 is an enlarged sectional vie, taken on the line 1. l11 of Fig. 10; Fig. 12 is an enlarged detail view of one of the guides which engage the end portions of the card. blanks as they are being fed into printing position; Fig. 13 is an enlarged sectional View taken on the line l313 of-Fig. 3; and Fig. 14 is an enlarged perspective view of the feeding lever for the inking plate.

T his invention relates to printing niachin es, and'perticularly to machines that are used for printing calling cards, business cards, postal cards, etc.

' The'niain object of my invention is to problanks oi diilcr-ent sizesandwhich is so con- I structed that a perfect arrangement of the printing on the card blanks is insured.

Other desirable features of my improved machine will be hereinafter pointed out.

Referring to the drawings which llustrate the preierred form of my 1 renticn, l designates he bed plate of the machine which mounted on the base A i ctatnble shaft or drive shaft is j c u reeled in standards 4 that "ect upwardly from the hed plate and shaft nn. l ww-ated either manuelly n she the drive ed with a fly-wheel 5 to i that said shaft be i; but it will, of cours be understood that the drive shaft could he provided with a pulley for receiving a driving belt it so desiredor a friction pulley could be applied directly to the fly-wheel. The printing tvc clamped in a type box A which is to head 7 on the lower end of a plunger 8 that is reciprocatingly mounted in a cross piece 9 connected to the with a yoke 10 that receives a cam 11 on the drive shaft 3, shown in broken lines in Fig. 2. he portion 8 of the plunger above the yoke ll) is arranged in a tubular-shaped housing 12 that is connected to the cross piece 9, and coiled expansion. spring 123 eurrounds the portion 8 of the plunger between ahead on the upper end thereof and shoulder on. the housing 12, as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2. The cam 11 on the drive shaft operates to force the plunger 8 downwardly to cause the ty e to make an impression on the ear blanks and the expansion spring 13 returns the plunger to its elevated position. I prefer to arrange a roller 11 in the high portion of the cam 11 to reduce the friction between said camand the yoke 10 on the plunger and also proportion said yoke so that the distance or space between the top and bottom sides thereof is equal to the greatest diameter of-the cam l 1, thereby pre venting the earn from pounding on the yoke as it revolvesv.

The card blanks B that are to be printed are arranged between a front and rear guide i and i5, respe ve'ly, and two side guides 16 mounted on bed plate the pile of'card blanks being clamped together, as shown in .2, by n14 31s of a pressin' device that consists of spring-actuated plunger 17 prostandards l, seid plunger being provided vided at its lower end with afoot piece 18. I prefer to detachahly connect the foot piece to the plunger 17 so that foot pieces of different dimensions can be used, thus enabling the device to firmly clamp large or small card blanks. I

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have shown in detail the way in which the foot piece 18 is secured to the plunger 17, the foot-piece being providcd with a collar 1!) having a split spring ring 20 arranged on the interior thereof, and the plunger being provided with an a )proximately ball-shaped head 17 which t e split ring engages when the collar is forced onto the lower end of the plunger. This forms a very simple and. efficient locking means for the foot piece and also enables the foot piece to be readily detached and arranged in position without manipulating any set screws or clamping nuts.

The mechanism for feeding the card blanks into operative 1 position underneath the ty e box consists 0 ing upwardly through elongated slots 22; in

the bed plate and carried by a' sliding carriage 23 which is reciprocatingly mounted in stationary guideways, the upper ends of the fingers 21 extending slightly above the top surface of the bed plate so as to remove the bottom card blank from the pile as the carriage 23,1noves towards the rear of the machine. Reciprocating movement is imparted to the carriage 23 by means of a link 24 provided at its upper end with a strap which surrounds an eccentric 25 on the drive shaft 3 and having its lower end secured to an arm 26 on a rock shaft 27 provided with a hollow arm or guideway 28 that receives a .rod 29 which is secured to the carria e 23, as shown in Fig. 2. The rod 29 )asses loosely through the hollow arm or guideway 28, and a coiled expansion spring 30 is interposed between the lower end of said guideway and a headed screw 31 adjustably mounted in the lower end of the rod 29. An actuating mechanism of this construction moves the carriage 23 positively in both directions and overcomes the necessity of having any lost motion between the carriage and its actuating arm to provide for the rotary path of movement of the arm.

For enabling the feeding fingers 21 to be adjusted longitudinally of the carriage 23 so as to vary the distance which the card blanks are fed rcarwardly I have mounted said iingers on a spring plate 32 that is connected at one end by means of fastening devices 33 to a block 34 which is adjustably mounted in the carriage 23, as shown in Figs. 2 and 9. The block 34 is moved longitudinally of the carriageby means of an adjusting screw 35 j ournaled in the carriage and passing through a screw-threaded opening in a lug 36 on the underneath side of the block, and a set screw 37 is provided for locking the screw 35 so a pair of fingers 21 project shown in Fig. 2.

to hold the fingers 21 in adjusted position. The feeding fingers can also be adjusted vertically relatively to the carriage to vary the distance which they project above the to sur face of the bed plate by means of an adjusting screw 38 mounted in the block 34 and .bearing against the underneath side of the move rearwardly. The object ofproviding the guide 15 with an adjustable portion 15 is to enable the slotor space between the guide 15 and the bed accommodate card blanks of different thicknesses, the portion 15 being moved or ad justed vertically by means of a screw 39-.

journaled in lugs on the rear side of the guide 15 and entering a screw-threaded opening in plate to be varied tc.

the movable portion 15"- of said guide, as

The front guide 14 is 1'0- vided with a slotted shank 40 through w rich 2. set screw 41 passes so that said guide can. be adjusted relatively to the rear guide 15, and on the underneath side of the shank 40 is a lug which fits in a groove 42 in the topsurface of the bed plate to prevent said front guide from turning or moving laterally.

Each of the side guides 16 is carried by a plate 43 which is provided with a slotted arm 44 that receives a clamping screw 45 on the bed late, as shown in Fig. 3, thereby enabling the side guides to be moved toward and away from each other to accommodate card blanks of different lengths. The plates 43 are provided with yieldingguides for receiv- 47 carried b Y s rin arms 48 that are connected at their outer ends by fastening devices 49 to laterally rojeetingarms on the plate 43, as shown c early in Fig. 12. The front end of each of the strips 46 is bent downwardly so that it will enter a transversely extending groove 50 in the top surface of the bed plate, as shown in Fig. 3, to prevent the card blanks from catching or sticking as they start to enter the yielding guides. I also prefer to provide the side guides 16 with downward y extending ribs that enter a transversely extending slot 51 in the bed plate so as to prevent thin card blanks from slipping endwise under the guides 16. To

prevent the guides from shifting or moving ably connected to the bed plate by means of a spring jaw 53 that receives a shank or pro- 'jec-tion e on the underneath side of the platen, the jaw '53 herein shown consisting of a piece of spring metal that is bent into approximately U-shape with the legs of the U bent inwardly intermediate their ends.

The type box A is shown in detail in Figs. 4 to 7, and consistsof a rectangular-shapcd frame provided on its upper side with a continuous flange 55 that enters a groove on the underneath side of a. plate 56, and said plate and frame are secured together by screws or other suitable fastening devices 57. This produces a very strong and rigid construction and positively 55 "from shifting relative to the plate 56. The type are clamped inside of theframe by means of sci screws and the plate 56 is provided on its upper side with a dovetailed groove 59 that receives a yieldingly mounted dovetailed rib 60 on the underneath side of the head 7 on the-lower end.of the reciprocating plunger 8. The head 7 is provided on its underneath side with projections 7'* that pass through openings in the rib 60, and coiled expansion springs 160 are interposed between heads 7% onsaid projections and the bottoms of recesses in the rib 60, assho'wn in Figs. 4 and 5. Thesprings 60 force the rib 6O upwardly toward the head 7 and thus hold the plate 56 of the type carrier firmly against the underneath side of said head. Said head 7 is provided with a pin 61, as shown in Fig. 5 and the plate 56. of the type box is provided on its upper side with a slot 62 that terminates in a hole or recess 63 of greater depth than the slot-for receiving the pin 61 when the type box is forced onto the rib 60 on the head 7, thereby preventing the ype box from becoming accidentally shifted after it has been arranged in position.

As shown in Fig. 7, the frame 55 of the type box is provided with graduations 64, and the bed plate is provided with corresponding grruluations 65 for the side guides it so that the operator can examine the type after they have been clamped in the type box and how the type are posTioned relativciy to the graduations 6d and then adjust the side uides 16 so that the card blanks will occupy such a position relatively to the ty po that the printing will be arranged an equal distance from each end of the card blank. Graduations 66 are also arranged on the bed plate along the slots 22, as shown in 3, so that the operator can tell gust how the feeding lingers 21 should be positioncdon the prevents the frame carriage 23 to cause the printing to bearranged at an equal distance f om the top and bottom edges of the card blank.

To position the'iingers 21, the operator first feeds a card blank through the machine and if the printing on said card is arranged too close to the upper edge of the card he turns the screw 35 so to move the eeding fingers rcarwardly relatively to the carriage 23 so that the card blank will be fed rearwardly a greater distance and thus cause the printing to be arranged at the same distance from the upper and lower edges of the card.

If the printing on the test card blank is arranged too close to the lower edge of the blank he turns the screw 35 so to move the feeding fingers forwardly and thus cut down the distance which they feed the card blanks rearwardly.

An inking plate 67 is rotatably mounted on the bed plate 1 at the rear of the platen 52, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, and on the un-- derneath side of said plate is acircular row of ratchet teeth 68 with which a weighted pawl 69 on an oscillating lever 70 cooperates, said row of teeth being concentric to the axis of the inking plate. The lcvcr'TO is provided at its inner end with a collar 71 that ,surrounds a cylindrical boss 68 on the underneath side of the inking plate, and-the pawl 69 is pivotally connected to a downwardly projecting portion 72 on the outer end of the lever 70, said portion 72 being provided with a pin 73 which forms a stop for the pawl. Movement is imparted to the lever 70 by a link Yet that is fastened to an arm 75 on the rock shaft 27 and as the pawl on said lever moves in a rotary path that is concentric with the axis of the' inking plate, said plate. will be fed positively and accurately with. a step bystep movement. Preferably, the tooth of the pawl 69 is split and a piece of leather, rubber, fiber or other non-metallic material 69 is inserted therein so as to prevent the pawl from making a noise as it moves rearwardly over the ratchet teeth preparatory to feeding the inkin plate forwardly. If desired, the inking plate can be provided on its underneath side with a circu lar piece of cloth or soft rubber so as to deaden any ringing sound caused by the movement of pawl 69. i

The ink is applied-to the of the type in the type box by means of rollers 76 mounted in j iting carriage 77 which actoated by a rock lever 78 having its lower ll connected by a link 79 to said or age, and its upper end connected by a link to an arm 81 thcdrve shaft As said rive shaft revolves the lever 78 will be rocked move the carriage v7'7 over the inking plate and then umlerneath the type box, the rollers in said carriage becoming coated with the ink which is placed on the inking plate so that the will apply the ink to'the type as the the r lers traveling on yielding tracks 82 as they pass underneath the type box, which tracks are shown in Fig. 2 and in broken linesin Fig. 3. The machine is provided with a chute 83 down which the cards slide after they have been printed, said chute being arranged at the rear of the platen 52, as shown in Fig. 2. This chute preferably consists of a piece of sheet metal provided with sidellanges and having an o ening at its upper end which receives a hoe jection or shank 54 on the underneath side of the platen. At the lower end of the chute is a lug or projection 84 that enters a notch 85 in the base of the machine for preventing lateral movement of the chute. This forms a very simple and efficient means for holding the chute in position and enables the chute to be removed quickly.

Having thus described my invention, what I=clain1 as new and desire to. secure by Letters Patent is l. A machine of the character described, comprising a plun er provided at its "lower end with a head, a dovetailed rib arranged on the underneath side of said head, springs for forcing said rib upwardly toward said head. a

in in said head and a t e box )rovided with a dovetailed groove for receiving the rib on the head, and a hole or recess for receiving said pin; substantially as described.

' 2. .A machine of the character described, comprising a reciprocating plunger provided at its lower end with a head, a type box detachably connected to said head, said type box consisting of a plate provided on its underneath side with a continuous groove, a frame provided with a continuous flange that fits insaid groove, and screws passing through said plate into said frame for sccurin the frame and plate together; substantially as described.

3. A Inachineof the character described, provided with a bed plate, a horizontal platen mounted on said bed plate and provided on 54 on-the lower end of the proon said bed plate and provided with a downwardly extending projection or shank, and an approximately U-shaped jaw forn'ied of spring material for eniln'acing said proj cot, on to retain the platen in; position; substantially as described.

5. In a machine of the character described,

a plun er carrying a type-box which consists of a plate provided on its underneath side with grooves thatextend parallel to the sides and ends of said plate, a frame connected to said plate by fastening devices, and means projecting into the grooves in said plate for preventing the frame from moving laterally relatively to the plate; substantially as described. I

6. In a machine of the character described, a reciprocating plunger'provided at its lower r-nLl with a type-box, means on said type-box l'or clamping type therein, graduations on said type-box which can be examined to determine the location of the type in the type box, a bed plate, adjustable side guides on said bed plate for positioning a pile of cardblanks, and graduations on the bed plate cooperating with the graduations on the typeboX for enabling the operator to set the side guides in such a position that the type in the In testimony whereof I hereunto allix my signature in the presence of two witnesses, this 22nd day of November, 1907.

MILES H. MANN. 

